lity is the
projecting balcony hung upon each front; like the "moucharabys" of the
East, or the "miradores" of Spain.

The palace of the grand masters--to-day the palace of the
government--has nothing remarkable in the way of architecture. Its date
is recent, and it responds but imperfectly to the idea one would form of
the residence of Villiers de I'lle Adam, of Lavalette, and of their
warlike ancestors. Nevertheless, it has a certain monumental air, and
produces a fine effect upon the great Place, of which it forms one
entire side. Two doorways, with rustic columns, break the uniformity of
the long facade; while an immense balcony, supported by gigantic
sculptured brackets, encircles the building at the level of the first
floor, and gives to the edifice the stamp of Malta. This detail, so
strictly local in its character, relieves what might be heavy and flat
in this architecture; and this palace, otherwise vulgar, becomes thus
original. The interior, which I visited, presents a range of vast halls
and galleries, decorated with pictures representing battles by sea and
land, sieges, and combats between Turkish galleys and the galleys of the
"Religion." ...

To finish with the knights, I turned my steps toward the Church of St.
John--the Pantheon of the Order. Its facade, with a triangular porch
flanked by two towers terminating in stone belfries, having for ornament
only four pillars, and pierced by a window and door, without sculpture
or decoration, by no means prepares the traveler for the splendor
within.

The first thing which arrests the sight is an immense arch, painted in
fresco, which runs the whole length of the nave. This fresco, unhappily
much deteriorated by time, is the work of Matteo Preti, called the
Calabrese; one of those great second-rate masters, who, if they have
less genius, have often more talent than the princes of the art. What
there is of science, facility, spirit, expression, and abundant
resource, in this colossal picture, is beyond description.

Each section of the arch contains a scene from the life of St. John, to
whom the church is dedicated, and who was the patron of the Order.
These sections are supported, at their descent, by groups of
captives--Saracens, Turks, Christians, and others--half naked, or clad
in the remains of shattered armor, and placed in positions of
humiliation or constraint, who form a species of barbaric caryatides
strikingly suited to the subject. All this part